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Monday, March 31, 2014

What's biblically wrong with the Noah movie: an easy apologetic

These lists were compiled by men of the faith Chris Rosebrough and Glenn Chatfield. In viewing the list of aberrations from the bible in this movie, even one on the list should convince you that it is not a profitable way to spend your time or your money. The movie strays from the biblical record. If it strays from the Word, adulterates it in any way, presents a different God, or changes the historical record that the bible is, then it is not worth our time.

It is up to you to decide whether to watch or recommend. I hope you don't. God doesn't compromise His standards and His word says not to mess with His word!

"as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures."(2 Peter 3:16)

"But you must not mention 'a message from the LORD' again, because each one's word becomes their own message. So you distort the words of the living God, the LORD Almighty, our God." (Jeremiah 23:36)

Underline is mine. When you mess with the word, you're messing with Jesus--

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." (John 1:1-2)

Here is Glenn Chatfield's list. (Used with permission). He wrote that despite producer Scott Franklin's claim that “I think we stayed very true to the story and didn’t really deviate from the Bible”,

"Regardless of such a claim, from the reports I've read I’ve acquired some information as to unbiblical problems with “Noah.” And these don’t even include the fact that it was primarily an extremist enviro-nazi propaganda piece." Here is Mr Chatfield's list:

1. Only one son takes his wife on the Ark in the movie, while in the Bible all three sons had wives with them.

2. Noah decides who will be worthy board the Ark, while in the Bible it is GOD who chooses.

3. The son with the wife has twin daughters, which are perhaps supposed to be the future wives of the other two sons.

4. Noah seeks advice from his grandfather Methuselah to understand a vision by God; this never happened. Apparently in the movie Noah really never understands God.

5. Methuselah is shown to be sort of a witch-doctor with mental health issues.

6. Noah has no concern for the people who will be killed in the flood, but the Bible says he was a “preacher of righteousness,” which would make his lack of concern out of character.

7. When Noah learns that his son’s wife is expecting, he says if it is a girl she should be killed because God doesn’t want to repopulate the world. Yet in the Bible we find that repopulation is exactly why Noah and his family — all eight of them — are saved.

8. A wounded man cuts his way into the Ark and eats animals to stay alive as a stowaway, and even tries to kill Noah. The Bible says no one but the eight of Noah’s family were on the Ark, and none of the animals died on the journey.

9. Noah teaches theistic evolution to his family while on board the Ark.

10. The “nephilim” are giant rock-creatures, help Noah build the Ark, and defend the Ark in battle.

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I know we become so excited when we hear reports of a new movie or television show coming out which claims to present our Jesus and His word in a God-honoring way. But we live in a fallen world, and those who are not saved cannot present anything but lies. (Psalm 14:4, 2 Corinthians 3:14). Even those who are saved and who use these important media outreaches to share the Gospel often stumble because it is a time of apostasy, lack discernment, or won't endure sound doctrine. Compromises are the order of the day. Please, in our love for Jesus and eagerness to share Him with the lost, let's remember it is equally important to retain strict standards regarding His Gospel and His word. The best apologetic I've come across regarding the mantra 'Even if it is flawed, let's use it anyway, God can do anything' is Sunny Shell's, regarding the event that started all this last year, The Bible miniseries on The History Channel:

"Even though there's a lot of error in this movie, still, don't you think it's a great way to show people who God really is, I mean, can't God use anything to save someone?

A. No, I don't think this movie is a great way to reveal the truth about God since it's filled with lies about God. And yes, I realize God can use anything to save someone, but He only chose to use the message of the true Gospel to save all men (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). Nowhere in Scripture does God command or allow His children to use the work of Satan to proclaim His truth. And God is clear, anyone who denies Him and defiles His holy character or word, works for the devil, not for God.
Since the beginning of time, the devil has attempted to minimize and blaspheme God's holy character by lulling us to disregard His holiness, justice and righteousness. God has never called His children of light to partner with the works of darkness (2 Cor 6:15-16). As God's children, we are commanded to pursue holiness, rather than try to find a way to compromise the glory of Christ in order to "reach more people".

Reach people with the pure and unadulterated word of God. Isn't it enough? It surely is!

19 comments:

Of the recent trifecta of "Christian" movies (Son of God; Noah; God's Not Dead), this one is the most obviously deviant from Scripture. This movie is a glaring abomination!

Ugggh, I also hate the "'Even if it is flawed, let's use it anyway, God can do anything'" mantra. Jesus NEVER uses ERROR to teach the truth. I heartily concur with Sunny Shell. And I am so sick of Christians (especially leaders/pastors/teachers) justifying these error-laden silver screen substitutes in the name of "outreach" or "evangelism".

I'd love to see you cover "God's Not Dead" - that movie in my opinion contains the most subtle errors of the three, as it slips in evolutionary compromise, and also relies on human wisdom to prove God's existence, instead of Scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit... the cross of Christ is emptied of its power by human wisdom (1 Cor 1:17).

When will Christians ever learn that Hollywood is no friend of the Savior? Christians flock to these distorted movies, allowing themselves to be emotionally carried away by a bunch of malarkey. Worse yet, taking along "unchurched" (a word I detest) Uncle Jim, because they think he will get saved from watching a film containing compromise, rather than from hearing the actual Biblical Gospel...

Elizabeth, correct, we are never supposed to be surprised when the world acts like the world.

But believers should always upset when **Christians** think/act like the world, and when Christians openly embrace the compromises of the world, because they think the compromises somehow make the Gospel more "relevant".

I see your posts as more of what you said - an apologetic for undiscerning Christians (very needed these days), and a public refutation of evil.

Carolyn, I agree with all you have said. I feel and think the exact same. All the chatter on facebook from professing Christian friends, makes my head explode. How can people be so undiscerning?! It boggles the mind. ~Jennifer

Excellent! I have not seen and do not plan to see yet another "fractured fairytale" in the guise of a Biblical account. Those Christians who have now watched "Noah" have also noted that God is viewed as Nature. "Sin" is redefined as man's reckless disregard of the environment, overpopulation, animal cruelty, weapons-making and mining a substance similar to the oil of our day.

As a result, man is deemed unworthy of life. Noah and his family are "somehow" excluded even though they too are human and causing what "logically" would seem to be massive environmental damage in the process of building the Ark.

Noah is portrayed as some kind of "Homicidal Maniac" which completely destroyed any remaining chance to communicate this wonderful account as a foreshadowing of God's Grace in His call to repentance and eternal life through Christ Jesus.

Overall a pretty thorough hatchet job with God's Truth sacrificed on the altar of "entertainment for the lost". No surprise there, it's the norm in today's emerging mega churches who now teach a Gospel of convenience, relativism and pragmatism.

From the outset, director Aronofsky did not pretend that Noah would follow the bible story. He is quoted as saying he wanted the movie to appeal to believers and non-believers alike. So if a Christian decides to see Noah, they should go in knowing it will not be a by-the-book rendering. In my opinion, this is more honest than "Christian" movies that twist scripture and weave in New Age concepts.

Thanks very much Eug. I agree with the reviewer's assessment of the movie being mystical/Kabballah and Gnostic. If it isn't biblical, it's evil, and both of those evil philosophies were present since the beginning. He was extremely perceptive and I am happy to benefit from his assessment.

I also agree with the reviewer's charge against Christian leaders who lack such discernment they failed to see what a complete subversion this is.

And not only do I agree with his supposition that Aronofsky is having quite a laugh at our expense, I read a quote recently of Aronofsky saying exactly that.

I look at films like this as an opportunity to engage a dying world in a conversation they would not normally have. They too will have strong opinions and questions, and who better to analyze the character of Noah with than a Christian who can show them where the story is found. I like the way the apostle Paul approached the people at the Areopagus in Acts 17. The world is not interested in our negative criticism of movies but they may want more information on the biblical subjects portrayed.

I watched the Movie and I thought it was a great movie but what you people here need to understand is that it is just a "MOVIE". I watched it knowing fully well it would not be the true telling of Noah. All movies does not give accurate accounts of events, things must be change or tweaked to provide a good movie experience if you want the accurate story of Noah do what i did, read over the Bible.....WELL....never mind, I will leave that for another day i.e......(Council of Nicea)

Yes it is just a movie. I refute that answer...well Answers in Genesis refutes that answer. Here are two refutations to giving a pass to the errors in the Noah Movie because it's 'just a movie'. Go to the link for the rest :) . https://answersingenesis.org/noahs-ark/noah-movie-detailed-review/

It’s just a movie, so I’m going for entertainment purposes.

We are called to be holy, set apart from this world. Why should a child of God desire to fill his or her mind with ideas that are not in line with God’s Word? In this case, Noah goes far beyond botching a couple of details, it directly and overtly teaches the exact opposite of the Bible in many areas. While Christians have liberty to see a movie like this or not to see it, we also are called by our God to use our time and resources wisely. Further, some believers have suggested that the film is an opportunity for Christians to turn their brains off and just enjoy the movie. This idea is contrary to the commands of Scripture—we are called to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

4. You need to understand that the filmmakers are just using artistic license.

We have no problem with artistic license in a Bible-themed movie when it is done properly. In fact, anytime you decide to depict historical events, you will be using artistic license. We understand that. We used artistic license, for example, in portraying Noah at the Creation Museum, and we will be doing the same at the Ark Encounter. We don’t know what Noah looked like, what he wore, how he spoke, etc. The difference is that the filmmakers went beyond artistic license when they overtly contradicted the text in multiple areas and completely changed the character of Noah from being a godly, righteous man into a madman who was bent on making sure every last human being died, even if it meant Noah must slaughter his own grandchildren. See Paramount’s Noah: Artistic License Run Amok for more details on the film’s abuse of artistic license.

They should not titled it "NOAH" instead or change the name of the characters. Like giving a title such as "the Arc" or "the big storm" .. giving title Noah to it should take a big responsibility on it because it is a character in the bible....And this is a BIG DEAL. THEY SHOULD KNOW IT

Why take anything out of context, I say to these directors of 'Noah'? Why did they have to change ANYthing about the Noah account? If they had actually been thinking outside the box, instead of based on what we know in THIS time & THIS era on earth, I'm sure they could have created a beautiful, very credible film, interesting to both believers and non-believers alike.

Like, instead of portraying the world as some kind of desolate, heathen/barbaric place, how about this? It was a BEAUTIFUL, laden with LUSH vegetation & plenty for all... Noah, instead of being some nobody nomad, was probably a very recognized name in his time & throughout the lands. He was probably well-off, had plenty of animals, had lands in his name abound... Why imagine Noah as some sort of Nomadic, Caveman-like individual? That right there, the depiction of Noah & all the other characters in the film, all appearing to be very poor, just-barely-surviving individuals--is a very evolutionist approach. But these were people who lived WAY longer than we do nowadays! They were fresh descendants of Adam and Eve, fresh descendants of the most perfect humans ever CREATED. Why can't a movie be made where we have something like that? Where Noah was ACTUALLY quite intelligent and gifted... I mean, I'm sure if even the stupidest of us could live to be 500 years old, we would end up being smart somehow! And where the world was still relatively peaceful and perfect... Plentiful in ALL things. I think in the Bible it even says that it didn't rain in those days, only dew in the mornings watered the plants & animals of the earth. Why not put something into peoples' minds--that is NOT what we see here on THIS earth? In THIS now? To me that would be FAR more interesting, to see a movie like that, rather than some nomad trying to struggle & survive like some uncivilized rogue on an earth that we of our past several generations have known all too well. Heck, throw some dinosaurs into the world of Noah, because based on creationism (which makes a lot more sense than evolutionism, IMO), the world before Noah was probably WAY different than the world we know now. Why doesn't anyone that makes movies, esp Biblical ones, think in THAT light? To me it would be FAR more interesting than seeing the same ol' regurgitated cr@p we see every single day. Does it not make anyone else wonder?

If this movie is evil, wrong, or not Christian enough....why did everyone go see it? Obviously if this movie is wrong and evil no "TRUE" Christian should have watched it. Or everyone else thinks that they have the right to judge. First of all it was a terrible movie don't get me wrong....but it's a movie....nothing anywhere says "this is the gospel and how it truly happened" someone got the idea to turn the story into something else...and that's all this movie is...and story. And a bad one at that.

So your standard it numbers. If "everyone" went to see it, the movie must be all right. But that is not how we test all things. We test them against the Bible.

It isn't a matter of "being Christian enough" it is a matter of:

--accuracy in representing God's word--honoring Jesus

This movie didn't do either.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Phil 4:8